Monday, June 27, 2011

Brompton M touchpoints improvements

This is for a friend(Adriane lee) who has a Brompton M....but I thought I share it with you too. Going for a long long ride means that ur palms, bum will be tired. I consulted Russ of Pathlesspedaled and followed his setup. I changed out the following....
Ergon GC2 on my brommie

white markings to help u gauge the angle that best fits u
1) Handle bar grip - Change to Ergon GC2 grips. The design of the grips is ergo styled which has a wider plattform to rest the palms. Also comes with bar ends to have alternative gripping position. This is good for hill climbs. To fit Brompton M, u got to loosen the shifters and brake levers and move inward the bar. Once u do that, u can fold with no problem. To be even more comfortable, I wear gloves all the time when I ride...cuz u never know when u fall.

Shimano R770 levers
Done!
2)Shimano R770  Flat bar brake levers - It has a return spring buildin with a sculpted shaped levers, which makes braking easier. Cheap and easy mod. Get it at Rodalink.
3) Brooks seat -  For my butt, I swear by brooks.. choose B17 for general purpose.
PLS NOTE, IT TAKES TIME FOR THE SEAT TO FORM TO UR BUM. So don't fit a new brooks seat for the long journey... ur ass will break.. confirm and chop!
For my brompton, I choose the Flyer model with spring... it cuts away the road vibration...


4) Marathon tyres - I don't like changing tyres.. esp on a hot dust road. So I fit my brompton with Swalbe Marathon tyres. Abit draggy but good on broken road and is more puncture proof. I rather be slow and steady. and not need to change tyres :)

6 comments:

  1. i saw your flickr pics of this and did a double take because i thought the changes were on my bike... saw the details though and realized that i have gx2's and shimano r770's and didn't get my tires changed yet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, Ergon grips are highly recommended for long rides.
    The grips can be cut (I've done it), if there are insufficient space on the handlebar.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I learn from experience but TW, you are smarter. You learn from the experience of others!!! Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Diane, the mod is relatively simple. Cable is abit on the long side now.
    @Bro Al, haha.. thanks! the powers of the internet and kay pow-ness! I want to prep the brompton for Mekong.. now only left the engine... that's the weakest link.

    ReplyDelete
  5. just wondering... how u carrying stuff? R u doing wat Pathlesspadeled did? mount their backpack on top of rack?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Joshua, I got a Touring front bag. So all the barang barang is stored there.

    ReplyDelete